NASA’s Juno Mission Will Arrive At Jupiter on Independence Day

After having traveled more than 1.7 billion miles over five years, NASA’s Juno spacecraft is fortuitously set to arrive at Jupiter on the Fourth of July. Juno will hopefully enter into orbit around the gas giant shortly thereafter.

The process of slowing the probe enough to enter orbit will be a delicate one, requiring the main engines to fire for 35 minutes. NASA reported that they had pressurized the propulsion system in preparation for the engine firing a couple of days ago. If something goes awry, Juno will sail past Jupiter and the mission will be blown.

If all goes well, the mission will take Juno closer to Jupiter than any other spacecraft before it, allowing it to peer into the depths of the planet’s thick, swirling clouds and beaming back the best observational data set on Jupiter humanity’s ever had.

Part of its mission is to ascertain the amount of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere as well as map its massive magnetic field, which extends out millions of miles from the planet. Jupiter’s dense magnetosphere shields the planet from solar wind and is thought to be generated by a roiling ocean of liquid metallic hydrogen beneath its surface.

The field is also home to powerful belts of radiation which can fry the electronics on a spacecraft, which is why the Juno has been outfitted with special armor to reduce exposure. Its orbit will also follow a trajectory that will limit exposure to radiation.

To mark the patriotic occasion, NASA has even commissioned rock artists Weezer and Trent Reznor, the frontman of the band Nine Inch Nails, to write music celebrating this achievement.